Not Applicable
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to ammonia based household cleansers which have a disinfecting effect on harmful microorganisms.
2. Background Information Including Description of Related Art
Aqueous ammonia based household cleansers are a well-known product of commerce. However, despite a possible public misconception due to the pungent odor of these cleansers, they ordinarily do not exert any substantial disinfecting effect with regard to harmful microorganisms on the surfaces to which they are applied. Thus, in view of the public""s desire for disinfection generally in many different applications, any modification of an ammonia based household cleanser which causes the ammonia contained therein to have some disinfecting effect would be very desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,685, issued Feb. 14, 1995 to Smith et al., discloses disinfectant compositions comprising an aqueous solution of a bacteriocidal quaternary ammonium compound and an alkali bicarbonate, e.g., sodium bicarbonate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,935, issued Jul. 25, 1995 to Kupneski; U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,983, issued Oct. 3, 1995 to Michael et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,054, issued Jun. 16, 1998 to Sprugel et al., each shows surface cleaning and disinfectant compositions comprising a quaternary ammonium halide disinfectant and ammonia as a buffering agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,681 issued Dec. 15, 1998 to Neumiller et al., discloses glass cleaning compositions with enhanced anti-streaking properties comprising a hydroxy substituted ether and an anti-streaking alcohol. The composition may also contain a quaternary ammonium salt as an antimicrobial and/or disinfectant compound and other xe2x80x9cconventionalxe2x80x9d materials such as ammonia. Among seven examples and seven comparative examples containing ammonia shown in the patent, the largest amount of ammonia disclosed is in the composition of Comparative Example 8, which contains 1.00 wt. % of 28.5% ammonia or an overall amount of ammonia of 0.285 wt. %.
U.S. Statutory Invention Reg. No. H269 of Malik, published May 5, 1987, discloses disinfectant cleaner compositions comprising a germicidal quaternary ammonium halide and a glycoside surfactant, and may also contain ammonia as a xe2x80x9cdiscretionaryxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csupplemental or auxiliaryxe2x80x9d ingredient.
In accordance with this invention, a cleaning composition for surfaces is provided comprising an aqueous solution of a cleansing amount of ammonia, i.e., an amount resulting in the removal of a significant amount of soils and stains when applied to a surface after appropriate dilution, and an amount of a biocidal, non-ampholytic quaternary ammonium salt (quat.) which is less than that necessary to achieve complete disinfection after said dilution in the absence of ammonia. Although ammonia is known to have little or no disinfecting effect when present in cleaning compositions, it has been found that the combination of ammonia in amounts used in cleaning compositions with a biocidal quat. in an amount less than that necessary to obtain complete disinfection after appropriate dilution, surprisingly results in a composition having a substantially greater disinfecting effect than a composition containing the same amount of quat. but no ammonia. In many cases, use of the composition containing amounts of ammonia and quat. as described results in complete disinfection of the cleaned surface.
Not Applicable
In the following description and claims, all the percentages are weight percentages based on the total weight of the composition, unless otherwise defined.
The compositions of this invention contain an amount of ammonia sufficient to exert a significant cleaning effect after appropriate dilution on the surface to which the diluted composition is applied. In many cases, the amount of ammonia in the composition will be, for example, about 0.5 to about 10 wt. %, preferably about 1.0 to about 5.0 wt. %. While at least some of the ammonia dissolved in water is believed to be in the form of ammonium hydroxide, the foregoing percentages are based on an assumption of pure ammonia (NH3), as the solute.
The biocidal quats contemplated under this invention are well known in the art. They are composed of one or more single charged cations each made up of a central nitrogen atom bonded to four organic groups of various types, electrostatically coupled with the anion of a strong acid. Preferably, two of the organic groups bonded to the nitrogen are methyl, one of the organic groups bonded to the nitrogen is a long chain alkyl, e.g., n-alkyl, containing about 8 to about 24, more preferably about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms, and one of the organic groups is either methyl, said long chain alkyl, benzyl, or alkylbenzyl wherein an alkyl group containing, e.g. 1 to 4 carbon atoms is bonded to a ring carbon atom of a benzyl group. Each long chain alkyl as defined may be single valued, i.e., may be the same among substantially all the quat. molecules, or may be a mixed alkyl made up of different alkyls containing varying numbers of carbon atoms in the range of about 8 to about 24 among the quat. molecules. Moreover, if the quat. contains two long chain alkyl groups bonded to the nitrogen atoms, they may be the same or different among the single valued or mixed alkyl groups as defined. Mixtures of quats containing different organic groups bonded to nitrogen as previously described, may be used. The preferred quats among all the foregoing categories are the quaternary ammonium halides, and most preferred are the quaternary ammonium chlorides, among which are mixed Cl2-Cl6 n-alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride; n-octyl n-decyl dimethyl ammonium chloride; di-n-octyl dimethyl ammonium chloride; di-n-decyl dimethyl ammonium chloride; mixed C12-C18 n-alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride; and mixed C12-C14 n-alkyl dimethyl ethylbenzyl ammonium chloride. The quat. may be added to the composition as the pure salt or it may be mixed with inert ingredients, e.g., in an amount of 20 to 50 wt. % of the total quat. composition, for better dissolution and compounding.
A preferred class of active quats. are those consisting of about 30 to about 50 wt. % of at least one long chain n-alkyl dimethyl benzylamonium chloride and about 50 to about 70 wt. % of at least one di(long chain alkyl) dimethyl ammonium chloride, most preferably the specific quat utilized in Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples A and B as described hereinfafter.
Another preferred class of active quats. are those consisting of about 40 to about 60 wt. % of at least one long chain n-alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride and about 40 to about 60 wt. % of at least one long chain n-alkyl dimethyl ethylbenzyl ammonium chloride, most preferably the specific quat utilized in Example 9 as described hereinafter.
The total active quat. in the composition is present in an amount which is generally less than that which would effect complete disinfection at an appropriate dilution ratio when present in the same composition except that no ammonia is present. Such amount before dilution is in the range, for example of about 0.4 to about 1.6 wt. %, preferably about 0.6 to about 1.0 wt. % based on the weight of the composition. After dilution, the composition may contain, for example, about 100 to about 1000 ppm of pure quat. at a dilution ratio of about 1:16 to about 1:32.
The aqueous cleaning composition of the invention also advantageously contains a nonionic surfactant. Specific nonionic surfactants which can be used include ethoxylated fatty alcohols, preferably linear primary or secondary monohydric alcohols with C10-C18, preferably C12-C16, alkyl groups and on average about 1-15, preferably 3-12 moles of ethylene oxide (EO) per mole of alcohol, and ethoxylated alkylphenols with C8-C16 alkyl groups, preferably C8-C9 alkyl groups, and on average about 4-12 moles of EO per mole of alkyl phenol.
The preferred class of nonionic surfactants are the ethoxylated linear alcohols, such as the C12-C16 alcohols ethoxylated with an average of from about 3 to about 12 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol. A most preferred nonionic detergent is a C12-C14 alcohol ethoxylated with 7 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol.
The amount of nonionic surfactant in the composition is, for example, about 0.2 to about 10.0 wt. %, preferably about 0.5 to about 2.5 wt. %, based on the total weight of the composition. Preferably the composition does not contain any anionic surfactant, since anionic surfactants may be incompatible with the contemplated quat.
Certain chelating agents not incompatible with the quat. may also be present for the purpose of sequestering undesirable metallic ions, particularly iron which tends to be leached out from metallic surfaces by aqueous ammonia and may cause undesirable discoloration of the composition. Such chelating agents include, for example, the trisodium salt of N-hydroxyethylethylenediamine triacetic acid, triethanolamine, and sodium gluconate, each of which may be present in an amount, for example, of from about 0.01 to about 0.5 wt. %
The composition of this invention may also contain, as a color stabilizer and buffer, an alkaline bicarbonate, preferably an alkali metal bicarbonate, and most preferably sodium bicarbonate (SBC). If used, the alkaline bicarbonate may be present in an amount in the range of about 0.1 to about 5.0 wt. %, preferably about 0.5 to about 3.0 wt. %.
Other optional ingredients may also be present as are well-known in the art, including fragrance oils, colorants, optical brighteners, UV absorbents, enzymes, etc. The total of these additional optional materials may be within the range, for example, of about 0.1 to about 2.0 wt. %.
The balance of the composition in which all the foregoing ingredients are dissolved or dispersed, is water which may be present in an amount, for example, of about 69 to about 98 wt. %, preferably about 86 to about 97 wt. %. Preferably, the ingredients are dissolved or very finely dispersed in the water, so that the composition has a clear appearance.